Furano & Biei: Ultimate Flower Farm Guide
Best Time to Visit Furano Lavender Fields
Furano and Biei are towns in the centre of Hokkaido, known for their pleasant and breathtaking rural landscapes. The best time to visit is July, when the lavender fields are in bloom. During winter, Furano turns into a popular downhill and cross country ski resort.This was part of our 10-day Hokkaido summer adventure.
Furano Cheese Factory & Ningle Terrace
Watching Cheesemaking Through Windows
At the Furano cheese factory, you have the opportunity to see people making the cheese through big glass windows that give you a view of the cheesemaking - I saw cheese in a vat and an aging storeroom for the cheese. You should first watch the video on how to make cheese.
Cheese Tasting for Kids (Squid Ink Cheese!)
Upstairs, you can taste different types of cheeses including one with squid ink! There is a map of European countries and the kinds of cheese they produce, and you can test yourself on your knowledge of cheese by doing a fun quiz.
Ningle Terrace: Forest Souvenir Shops
Ningle Terrace is a bunch of distinct wooden houses, each of which is a souvenir shop, set in a forest-like setting, connected by a boardwalk. At one shop, you can buy paper-made crafts like snowmen that have been carved so well , you can't even make out that it is paper! At another shop, you can buy wooden owl carvings showing different sizes and expressions of owls. There are photo frames with pictures made from paper! You can also buy leaf and natural ornaments.
My favourite is the musical orchestra shop where you can buy tiny musicians carved of pine cones, and wood, each playing different instruments like the cello, the violin , the flute.
Shirogane Blue Pond & Waterfalls Adventure
Shirogane Blue Pond: Why is it Turquoise?
This pond is so named because of its unique dark turquoise colour. It used to be an empty pit used to block the lava flow of Mt.Tokachi after it had erupted. After the eruption, the pit was filled with rain water to create the Blue pond. The blue colour comes from aluminium hydroxide which was left behind on account of the lava flow.
Shirahige Waterfall: 286 Steps Challenge
Shirahige waterfall is a blue waterfall and like the Shirogane Blue Pond, has aluminium hydroxide. You can see the beautiful waterfall from a canopy bridge, from where you can walk 286 steps up to the Tokachi museum. On the way, there is a fun quiz about Mt. Tokachi to entertain you so you don’t realise how tired you are.
Mt. Tokachi Volcano Museum: Learning About Volcanic Eruptions
At the top, there is a volcanic gallery that will tell you the history of Mt. Tokachi-dake. You will find volcanic rocks from different eruptions and even a display of the blockage used to block mud or lava flow. In 1926, a huge eruption happened and the smoke went up to an elevation of 200+ metres high!
I was awed by how high that is. There was a mud flow after the eruption which came and destroyed a few towns in Biei and Kamifurano so in 1986, people built a few diversional structures to direct the mud flow through the channel. You can actually see what happened at the gallery because there is an exhibit that shows you the dams and what would happen if there is no dam.
Tomita Farm - Lavender Harvest
Walking Through Rainbow Flower Fields
Tomita farm is a functioning flower farm in Furano, from where they export flowers. There are huge lavender fields and multicoloured flower fields with different types of flowers - lavender, marigolds, poppies and much more! It was fascinating to see how some of the fields had their flowers arranged in a rainbow with red sage, orange and yellow marigolds, green ferns and blue, indigo and violet lavender. Isn’t that beautiful?
Harvesting Lavender
Lavender from Farm Tomita are harvested to produce oils and dried flowers. Lavender oils are used in lavender ice cream, fragrances for cosmetics, such as perfumes and soaps and for candles. Dried flowers are made into potpourri and flower arrangements.
Must try: Lavender Ice Cream & Yubari Melon
Try out the lavender ice cream-it's delicious! Lavender ice cream is actually vanilla with lavender oil on it. Yubari melon is a speciality in Hokkaido so they had melon ice cream and sliced melon. I liked the sweet taste of it.
Shikisai-Na-Oka Flower Farm
Golf Cart Tours Through Rolling Hills
Shikisai-Na-Oka, like Tomita farm, is a beautiful flower farm and garden . You can take a golf cart around the fields and take beautiful photos of the flowers on rolling hills which looked never-ending!
Feeding Alpacas (Don't Make Them Spit!)
Inside this place, you can also go to the Alpaca stables where you can buy some carrots and lettuce to feed the Alpacas. Do not tease an Alpaca with food because they might spit at you!
Museum of Tractors and Soils
With Furano and Biei being a place of agriculture it is no wonder that they should have a museum of tractors. This museum will explain the history of tractors and different types of soil in the region. You can see lots of ploughs. I found out that they are usually pulled by buffalos, horses, cows, donkeys and even camels! You can see a blacksmith's house where he forges ploughs. There is also a hall dedicated to different types of tractors, ploughs, and farming attachments to a tractor like a potato harvester!
Scenic Drives: Panorama & Patchwork Road
These are scenic drives you can take to enjoy the beauty of the hills and the lush fields. Panorama road offers a seemingly endless view into the horizon with crop fields on your left and right. Patchwork road is so named because the fields look like a patchwork quilt thanks to all the different shades of green.
Chiyoda Farms: Wagyu Cattle Experience
Chiyoda Farms is a dairy and beef farm with an attached restaurant. The cattle at this farm are called Wagyu cattle, a Japanese breed that are raised on a specific diet. While some are grain fed, some follow a grass-fed diet. The colour of these cows are black. Wagyu cattle are the main source of food in the restaurant for wagyu beef and dairy products like milk and ice cream. There is also a petting zoo within the farm. We really enjoyed the petting zoo as we got to feed a pony and a calf and pet a baby goat.
Where to Stay in Furano / Biei
In Biei, many of the houses are farmhouses with a lot of land with a view of the surrounding mountain landscapes. We stayed at a a farmhouse called Chikarono's Tawaraya Farmhouse, near Biei
This house is a farmhouse. In the morning you will wake up to the marvelous Daisetsuzan mountain range and vast fields of crops like beetroot and buckwheat. This house is also a huge two-storied house with around 4 bedrooms perfect for our family of 10. My favourite part about this house was that Rebekah, Matthew and I got our own room!
More Hokkaido Family Guides
Loved this guide? Check out our other Hokkaido adventures:
- Hokkaido 10-Day Summer Itinerary with Kids
- Lake Toya & Noboribetsu: Volcanoes & Hot Springs
- Obihiro: Draft Horses & Hot Air Balloons
- Sapporo & Otaru with Kids